Chair of Jersey Reform Youth heckles Starmer at Labour conference over Gaza

  • ITV Channel spoke exclusively to Daniel Riley following his interruption of Starmer's keynote speech in Liverpool...

A Jersey student has heckled the Prime Minister during his keynote speech at the Labour Party conference.

Daniel Riley, a Labour Party member since 2022, shouted about the "children of Gaza" during Sir Keir Starmer's address in Liverpool.

After being thrown out by security, the teenager said he "hadn't planned on saying anything", but felt compelled to when Sir Keir talked of wanting a ceasefire in Lebanon and Gaza.

The 18-year-old said: "Every day we're still sending British bombs and British bullets that are being used in Lebanon and in Gaza right now, and the Prime Minister could stop that - he could stop that right now, but he doesn’t."

Daniel is also the Chair of Jersey Reform Youth, the youth wing of the social-democratic party Reform Jersey, which is not affiliated with Reform UK.

Speaking exclusively to ITV Channel, Daniel says: "It was quite the step up from a few marches in Royal Square to standing up in the conference hall.

"But it's been good in Jersey to be able to speak to people who are also supportive of the cause and I think that was part of the reason why I had the courage to stand up and say it."

Daniel acknowledged that "a few seconds of interruption of a speech is not going to end the war" but called on others to continue to speak out.

He adds: 'If [Starmer] can't speak without being interrupted without hearing this, that might be able to make a difference."

In his first Labour Party conference speech as prime minister, Starmer will say he wants to “build a new Britain”. Credit: ITV News

After the interuption, Starmer responded: "This guy's obviously got a pass from the 2019 conference", which is thought to have alluded to Jeremy Corbyn's last party conference as Labour leader.

The UK Prime Minister added: "While he’s been protesting, we’ve been changing the party. That’s why we’ve got a Labour Government."

Daniel has called for the UK Government to introduce a complete suspension of arms sales to Israel as well as imposing embargoes and sanctions on the country.

Labour has suspended some arms export licences to Israel, but Starmer has called the country a "very important ally" and "supported its right to self-defence".

After joining the Labour Party in 2022, Daniel said: "I thought [Starmer] would be able to do what he said, to be a more moderate force that could win the election and still deliver change, but he hasn’t delivered change."

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